1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to firearms and, more particularly, to a ambidextrously operated charging handle for the manual manipulation of a firearms bolt carrier group, particularly the M16 family of firearms to include the AR15, AR10, M4 and all of their clones and derivatives.
2. Description of the Related Art
The charging handle is used to manually manipulate the bolt carrier group of a firearm. With the M16 family of firearms the charging handle is use to chamber an initial round of ammunition, clear malfunctions and as a means to retract the bolt carrier group for inspection of the firearms interior. In practice the charging handle is mounted within the upper receiver, engaging with a forward portion of the bolt carrier group, with the length of the handle running parallel with the bolt carrier group. In this orientation the handle portion of charging handle is manually operated to pull the bolt carrier group to the rear and load the first round of ammunition. Once the firearm is discharged the gas pressure produced by the discharged round of ammunition is sufficient to load subsequent rounds of ammunition.
This basic version of the charging handle has been in use since the early 1960's and is still the standard issue for all U.S. military M16/M4 style rifles and is found on the vast majority of clones used by civilians and law enforcement. The prior art charging handle for the M16 family of firearms has a shape approximating the capital letter “T”, with the transverse member of the “T” acting now as the grasping handle. The grasping handle is rounded and relatively small making it difficult to gain and maintain a firm grip of, especially when gloves are employed or when the user is trying to rapidly operate the charging handle under stress. The grasping handle is provided with a latch mechanism having a spring biased hook at one end that engages on a portion of the upper receiver to hold the charging handle in place when it is not in use. The latch mechanism is located on the left side of the grasping handle and is designed to be compressed by the user against the forward face of the grasping handle, thereby compressing the biasing spring, disengaging the hook portion from the upper receiver and allowing the charging handle to be rearwardly retracted. Specifically due to the location and size of the latch mechanism on the grasping handle, its operation is difficult for left handed shooters and for right handed shooters using their left hand.
The prior art charging handle relies on a spring force to bias the latch element into operational engagement with the upper receiver and thereby retain the charging handle in place. This spring is visible when the charging handle is viewed from the rear thus exposing the spring to the elements. This exposure can result in rusting and/or contamination of the spring by debris from the environment.
Modified latch mechanisms and extended latch elements have been made in an attempt to address some of the above deficiencies found in the prior art. For example, the modified latch by PRI (Big Latch 05-0041, Precision Reflex, Inc, New Breman, Ohio) has an enlarged grasping surface that extends laterally past the grasping handle and includes a textured gripping surface. However, this extended latch design and those like it still have several deficiencies. This design, and those like it, fail to provide a latch element on the right side of the charging handle which is operable by a left handed shooter, or a right handed short using their left hand, to manually operate the bolt carrier group of the host firearm.
The prior art roll pin used to secure the latch mechanism to the grasping handle of the charging handle is another point of deficiency. The roll pin used is designed to provide a fulcrum for the latch mechanism. Many of the extended latches found in the market rely on the prior art roll pin to provide an axis of rotation and to resist the rearward movement of the latch while it is being operated. As a result, the extended latch element will shear through the roll pin during hard use thereby separating the latch mechanism from the charging handle. It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.